#FWAW

Today (August 3rd, 2017) I will be starting a YouTube channel. On that channel expect content related to Wolves, the Championship and the Premier League. I may also throw some FIFA content in there as well. Click here to visit the channel. Thank you for the support!

When looking through Wolves social media sites its usually surrounded with negativity, recently it has been about the amount of televised games. It perplexed me at first because I had no clue why someone would be angry at getting air time because here in the United States it’s a much different feeling. I follow a few leagues religiously, them being the NFL, The Premiere League and currently the Championship because the Wolves are in it. Now all three of these leagues have very different televised schedules in the US.

Focusing on the main domestic sport in the US, American Football. The NFL televised all of their games and if you live in the local market you get to watch every single game that your local teams play with a standard cable package. In America fans usually press for more prime time night games and want their the team to be on the national stage. Televised games has very little to none impact on ticket sales and attendance here in America. Showing this the NFL threw out their local black out rule just a season ago.

Switching gears to the Premiere League. Every single Premiere League game is televised in America through NBC Sports. Login into their website (with your cable provided information) and it grants you the option to watch every game that is currently live. The NBC Sport channel aired 2-3 games per Saturday and usually one on Sunday/ Moday (depending on the schedule). But still every game could be watched online if you have an internet connection. Not to include the countless bars that open at 7am on a Saturday so that football fans could come and watch their team with like-minded supporters.

Getting to the Wolves and their abnormal amount of televised games for a Championship side. I see and understand the negatives comments that most supporters are arguing about, what about the season ticket holders getting gyped, hotels not refunding our money for aways games, and the absurdity of changing fixture times. But a solution should be worked out regarding keeping the local fans happy and giving the Wolves air time. Obviously the number of domestic games should decrease to a reasonable amount but the Championship should workout a deal to up the number of televised games abroad. Not just Wolves game but other teams in the Championship. This way it can make more revenue without upsetting their local fan base and give them exposer overseas. Football/ Soccer is really starting to grow in America and it started around the end of the last mens World Cup. One example is Seattle where the average attendance of a Sounders game is over 40,000 people. Smaller leagues may not see the same watch rate as the Premiere League but it will have a decent amount of spectators through bars and fans of smaller clubs.

Personally as a fan abroad I think televised games are great and I get excited when I see a game that will be televised. This is because instead of following the OfficalWolves Twiiter account for updates I get to watch my team live with everyone else. I know that all the NFL games are televised that I go to but I am willing to pay the 60-100 dollars to go watch my team play. Theres nothing like going to a game for me because it gives me a personal connection to the outcome of the game. It makes it seem like my chanting and cheering had somehow had an influence on the game. Where as sitting at home I will be watching the game but in a distracted sense where I have all the distractions of being at my house that may take away from the experience. However I am not oblivious to how the domestic fans feel and agree to some extent with their thoughts on the situation. Fixture changes are ridiculous especially when the fans have pre-purchased their tickets. I believe fans should be offer either a full refund if they can’t make it or at minimum reduce ticket prices for the games that are televised. Something to make the fans feel a little more happy. Obviously Wolves as an organization is going through a large transition with the club being for sale, which has probably lead directly to more games being televised than normally. I’ll link a good write up from Cry Wolf below so readers can see the reverse side of things

By: Jordan White

Welcome to all the Wolverhampton Wanderers FC supporters in America! This website is also connected to our Official Twitter page, which can be found here –> https://twitter.com/WolvesUSA. Here we can meet and discuss Wolves related information and have an official online forum for Wolves fans in America. Our main goal is to untie fans of the Wolves and celebrate together. Until next time COYW!